This is concerning

[owlstwooting]

Significant alert in respect of Children and Paediatric shock. It has been reported that over the past three weeks, there has been a rise in the number of Children presenting with a multisystem inflammatory state requiring intensive care.

Looks legit, sadly

mobile.twitter.com/ThePalpitations/status/1254529121134264322

So dont inform the public?
Keep us in the dark as to a new, deadly disease that affects our children? So what fewer than 20 in the middle of a lockdown that is a fact.

What type of backwards, red state, small thinking is that?

It's a new Virus as you said so probably more important than normal especially in a cluster ffs.

@EdgarAllenCrow it is true that before we weren't making assumptions about numbers in dc, i corrected that part of what I wrote. But I think that you are wrong otherwise - in relation to the assumptions we were making about children being asymptotic or have mild symptoms, this has changed, notwithstanding numbers being low.

Your post is full of assumptions - people being embarrassed - this is no different to other viruses - it has all happened before - what you are saying sounds strikingly familiar to those who dismissed the COVID risk in January and February as nothing more than a "fuss
about a new flu".

But in any event - communication - we need more information not less, communicated in a way which is effective for the various audiences, so that all the various groups forming the general population can buy into the precautionary measures recommended by scientists and medics.

www.bbc.com/news/health-52439005

I saw this earlier and wondered if this is related

www.theguardian.com/society/2020/apr/27/what-is-the-new-illness-affecting-children-and-is-it-linked-to-coronavirus

I always thought toxic shock and kawasaki were bacteria based though

I don't think that because something is rare the public shouldn't be informed. I take your point Edgar that misinterpreting the information or assuming that they are always informed of similar issues could be a source of confusion. One thing I have noticed during this whole covid crisis though is that given the same stats, some people will conclude they have no chance of surviving the virus while others will conclude they are as near as dammit to immune.

The neurological issues I mentioned @iseeu are discussion at this point among some doctors about whether the virus enters the brain or neurons (poss with olfactory nerve involvement in some cases of smell loss) and maybe with central nervous system involvment in some cases with breathing difficulties. That has ushered in discussion about long term risks of neurological problems like Parkinsonism or Alzheimer's emerging post infection. I may have explained that badly or inaccurately in which case apologies, but will try and post a link.

theconversation.com/coronavirus-many-patients-reporting-neurological-symptoms-136692

Everyone has a chance of surviving though - given some of the case studies of who has survived it as well

Interestingly though the neurological issues include things I would never dream of being included especially the lack of smell and taste. Mine is still not back to normal

That said I think sometimes we forget how much other virus act like this - measles, chicken pox (a friend of DD suffered permanent brain damage from chicken pox). I suspect as a percentage ratio the numbers are similar to those but the numbers infected as so much higher

So I agree in many ways it isnt any different from other virus apart from the fact that we have no immunity, no treatment and no vaccine which means everything is just magnified up. There may be a 0.0001% of something happening but that is 1 out of 10000. And I think that is what is happening here.

Antibody testing will reveal a lot but I suspect London is at least 10% if not more (and I think this is happening in North London which is a particular hotspot)

@iseeu I hated the just the flu because flu isnt just the flu - a new flu that we had absolutely no immunity too would be equally horrific. Indeed think we are lucky this isnt bird flu

What weighs on my mind is what we don't yet know about it coming and going in the same patients...but again a separate issue.

This has been noted in Korea and assigned to the fact that tests cannot detect the virus under 3000 units. No idea what these units are in practical terms but that’s how they measure. Anyway, so when someone tests as clear positive then after treatment or without treatment tests negative then later positive again, it is very likely to be The case because these individuals were not completely clear of the virus but the level of infection dropped below the sensitivity of testing.
And in Korea they are very confident of their testing methods.
The Asian Boss channel on Youtube has interviewed one of their top specialists a couple of time and he explains in clear terms.

@branster - the Asian Boss interviews with Prof Kim Woo Ju - can you possibly link or give the youtube title of the one you are thinking of?

Matt Hancock has said that children with no underlying health conditions under 9 have died of this condition. Source: the guardian

iseeu that’s the one, second interview

@Freethefrogs do we know how many?

He didn't say but implied it was a small number.

Matt Hancock has said that children with no underlying health conditions under 9 have died of this condition. Source: the guardian

He back tracked after that on LBC

Did he really Riga?

always thought toxic shock and kawasaki were bacteria based though

My daughter had a near fatal reaction to a common virus (EBV) in 2018.
That reaction (which I suspect is the nameless syndrome in these news reports, or at least something very similar) is ‘triggered’ by all sorts of things. It’s rare though (we were told less than 2 in a million but that might be due to under diagnosis. It’s fatal untreated but prompt diagnosis and treatment means full recovery is possible).

Here’s a table of triggers I found, but it’s not complete (it’s been observed as a rare reaction to medication too).

On LBC yes maybe he clarified later on.

He also said no other countries have reported it. See attached.

And

Dr Nazima Pathan, a consultant in Paediatric Intensive Care in Cambridge, said colleagues in Spain and Italy had been reporting similar cases: "Some of the children have presented with a septic shock type illness and rashes - the kind of presentation we would expect to see in toxic shock syndrome and Kawasaki disease (which affects blood vessels and the heart).

Matt Hancock has a habit of talking without thinking!

The upshot is that the Daily Mail has the headline: 'Covid Syndrome Kills Kids'. Whilst this is on health ministers' radar and public are very concerned, schools won't be going back until beyond the autumn I predict.

For this and for other reasons.

It seems as though some other countries haven't reported it officially but there were doctors from different countries discussing it under the announcement on Twitter, and they seemed to agree that they were seeing it too.

I just listened though and Matt Hancock was talking about those who have died from CV not from this. He then had to change his mind because of the poor 13 year old boy who died back in March

He didnt actually say that children had died from this because I dont think that is known.

He didnt actually say that children had died from this because I dont think that is known.

Yes he didn't really know

I think people are very desperate to believe that the virus won't harm children- and it's understandable that they are afraid of this. This is obviously happening in tiny numbers, but it does seem like a real problem which medics and parents ought to be aware of- at least until more research is done.

As others have said, if your child is really ill or has been ill for a long time, it's important to get medical help. Don't put it off because of the current situation.

@owlstwooting you didn't deserve the pile on that you got when first posting this.

I do think Matt Hancock's comments today were potentially unhelpful, though.

I do wonder if this has been leaked to the press so parents don’t make a big fuss when it’s announced later that schools will go back in September. It’s very rare children will get this condition.

Matt Hancock was wrong to state earlier that some children have died from the new set of serious symptoms that resemble toxic shock syndrome and is closely linked to Covid-19, it has emerged.

When asked about the condition on LBC radio this morning the health secretary said: “We have lost some children.” However, he was referring to children dying from Covid-19 and not from this new inflammatory syndrome, which is confounding and worrying doctors.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has now clarified that Hancock did not mean to suggest that any children had lost their lives as a result of the new set of symptoms, which include intense stomach pain, gastrointestinal problems and an inflamed heart.

A source at the DHSC said:

The health secretary was referencing deaths we’re aware of that sadly related to COVID-19 not the inflammatory syndrome. We are not currently aware of any confirmed deaths related to the inflammatory syndrome.

His comments were widely reported in the media, including in this liveblog.

The existence of the syndrome first emerged on Monday. NHS England issued an urgent alert to doctors at the weekend asking them to immediately refer to hospital any under-18s displaying the key symptoms, which the Health Service Journal obtained.

Although it is very significant for those children who do get it the number of cases is small,” Hancock added.

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8265089/Two-year-old-boys-rash-turned-black-inflammatory-syndrome-linked-coronavirus.html

Apologies for Daily hate link . Mother says boy not tested for Covid